Professor writes to broaden views on Calvinism in 'Letters to a Young Calvinist'

Jessica Scott | The Grand Rapids PressEpistolary work: Calvin College professor James K.A. Smith holds his book,"Letters to a Young Calvinist." The book, composed of letters to a fictional character, is about the Reformed tradition apart from the New Calvinist movement.

When “Time” magazine included New Calvinism in its “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now,” James K.A. Smith had something to say.

The Calvin College professor of philosophy wanted the world to know the Reformed tradition is wider than what New Calvinism encompasses.

“I want to restretch the term ‘Reformed’ from what the New Calvinists say. They tend to reduce Calvinism to the doctrine of election and TULIP — an acronym for the five key points of Calvinism. But that is just a little slice of what it is to be Reformed,” Smith said.

He chose the epistolary form — familiar to fans of C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters”— to share his thoughts with the fictional Jesse, a new convert to Calvinism living on the West Coast.

Each letter addresses a point of contention, question, or clarification on the finer points of the Reformed tradition. The book grew out of real letters Smith had written to former students living in Los Angeles, as well as his own struggles as a new convert to Calvinism.

“A lot of the book is written to my younger self,” said Smith, 40, who was born and raised in southern Ontario. “I am writing to younger evangelicals who have just discovered the New Calvinism, but also to help the old guard revitalize their faith and understanding.”

IF YOU GO

Author talks

James K.A. Smith will participate in two upcoming events:

Dec. 3: He will speak and sign copies of “Letters to a Young Calvinist,” 7:30 p.m., Baker Book House, 2768 East Paris Ave. SE.

Those steeped in the Reformed tradition seem to have become a bit embarrassed by it, Smith said, even as a new group is becoming excited by it. Yet that new group tends to want the 19th century version of the faith and tends toward pride in their grasp of the deeper, finer points of the faith.

“One of the things about the Reformed tradition is that we are always reforming. It’s ironic that some want to go back and repristinate the 19th century. I want to coyly make that point without shutting down the conversation,” Smith said. “Part of my coming to the tradition was finding a robust tradition that valued the life of the mind, that encouraged asking questions and study.”

Smith is author of a number of scholarly works, including “Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism?” “Introducing Radical Orthodoxy,” and “The Fall of Interpretation.” He calls “Letters to a Young Calvinist” a more popular book intended “as a kind of apprenticeship at a distance between two friends,” he says in the book’s introduction.

Smith, who also teaches in Calvin College’s department of congregational and ministry studies, attends Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church. He has been in Grand Rapids for nine years with his wife and four children. Response to the book has been positive.

“I’m getting a lot of response from the New Calvinism crowd, and the book has done what I wanted: get them asking questions and thinking about issues,” he said. “And the older folks are saying that they’re excited about younger folks reappropriating the faith in new and creative ways.”